The Algerian War (1954-62) has been recognised by historians, sociologists and cultural theorists as one of the most divisive episodes in recent French history. Yet the historiography of the conflict is marked by periods when the war was broadly absent from the national memorial sphere, contrasting against others where violent memories of the conflict have coalesced around issues such as immigration, torture, and historical education. This thesis articulates how these and other social frameworks have influenced the cultural memory of the 1.2 million French military service conscripts, or appelés, who served during the Algerian War. Taking a quantitative and qualitative approach, informed by a Halbwachsian model of collective memory formation, and interdisciplinary readings on the social frameworks of Algerian War memory in France, this thesis thus outlines a historiography of constructions of the appelés in French cultural memory, which pays due attention to the medium in which that memory is constructed. Beginning with an overview of a wide corpus of appelé cultural memories from five media, through dialogue with historical, cultural and sociological literature about the conscripts and models of Algerian War memory, the thesis develops an appelé specific phasing of cultural memory. The thesis then advances four case studies which each examine constructions of the appelés in a distinct medium, and situates them within the appropriate phase in the evolution of appelé cultural memory. These studies consider the construction of the appelés in: firstly, television news magazine Cinq colonnes à la une (1959-60); secondly, two prose texts, Philippe Labro’s Des Feux Mals Éteints (1967) and Noël Favrelière’s Le Déserteur (1973); thirdly, Marc Garanger’s photo album La Guerre d’Algérie vue par un appelé du contingent (1984); and finally, three sets of texts drawn from contemporary online digital media.

This thesis assesses British naval and military co-operation in the form of combined operations during the Nine Years War, 1688-1697, and the War of the Spanish Succession, 1702-1713. The operational history of the joint actions is related and used to drive forward the determination of two inter-related themes. These are, how combined operations might be defined as an instrument of warfare during this period; and secondly, the place of such operations within the military component of Britain's wartime Grand Strategy. With respect to the former, previous definitions embodying the benchmarks of objectives and composition of force are set against the history and built upon to incorporate three further categories of definition: theatre of war, bureaucratic control and command structure. As a result, it is argued that no blanket definition for combined operations can be arrived at, but that any one of the five categories can provide insights into combined operations as an instrument of warfare. The second theme places the strategic objectives of these operations within the context of British war policy and explores their relationship to the 'Maritime' and 'Continental' strategic traditions. While it becomes clear that combined operations were thought to possess neither an independent nor a war-winning strategic capability, they do appear to have consistently filled a role in Grand Strategy which acted either simultaneously or separately in support of the naval and military strategic interests. With the categories for definition and a strategic role established for such joint army-navy ventures, the thesis concludes by considering whether during these wars there were any factors common to the more successful, and conversely to the failing, combined operations. Although a pattern or mould for a successful combined operation cannot be established, it is shown that the origins of the developed historical practice of this type of warfare - demonstrated to such effect later in the eighteenth century - can be traced in the two wars considered in this study.

Due to the current military climate, a large number of military service men and women often experience prolonged and repeated separations from their families due to overseas deployment. This has been shown to have potentially detrimental effects on the family system, spouse relationships and on the child. This study aimed to use qualitative methods to explore the individual experiences of UK mothers who had children living at home when their husbands deployed overseas. It aimed to examine their views on how they believed the deployment experience impacted on their children. This included reports on their experiences of welfare packages offered by the military and related support services. The study also aimed to highlight any personally developed examples of possible good practice. A single method design was used, utilising semi-structured interviews following a discovery spine interview technique. The conducted interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and drawing on aspects of Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis approach (2006). From the analysis it was shown that it was felt by mothers that deployment affected children both positively and negatively. For some there were negatively perceived changes in behaviour as well as significant feelings of loss both in terms of relationship and physical presence. There were also descriptions of increased negative emotional states and an ongoing experience of maladaptive life events concurrent with life within a military community. In positive terms, the experience of deployment was described as prompting beneficial behavioural changes as well as enabling them to develop more positive aspects to their character. Their increased thoughtfulness and ability to empathise was seen as a contributing factor to enhancing their relationships both with the deployed parent and with those who remained at home. This study highlights the need for increased attention to military children’s well-being in the UK and the under-researched impact of overseas parental deployment on their development and functioning. It also demonstrates the need for improvements to support services and welfare packages to families who currently feel unsupported at times of deployment. It suggests the importance of acknowledging and addressing the concerns of those individuals most closely affected by these procedures and the benefits that sharing their experience with others in similar positions can have.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis explores strategic-level deception in the context of network-centric information operations. Advances in information technology and the global connectedness of communications networks have created new opportunities and challenges for conducting strategic and operational level deception campaigns with significant utilization of cyberspace. Planning and executing concurrent strategic-level deceptions among distributed participants and against multiple targets requires speed, flexibility, and situational awareness. This thesis begins with a historical account of twentieth century use of strategic-level deception, followed by a definition of network deception, considerations for achieving network based deception, and our proposed model of command structure for network-centric planning and execution of deception campaigns in the twenty-first century. / Captain, United States Marine Corps

Human Systems Integration Report / In response to technological advances, Network Centric Warfare (NCW) emerged as a theory to leverage the technology available in todayâ s world. Advocates of NCW claim that technology will improve information sharing by â â µrobustly networking a forceâ , thereby improving mission effectiveness. This study proposes a methodology with which to test the first tenet of NCW: a robustly networked force improves information sharing. Lessons learned from Human Systems Integration (HSI) demonstrate that in order to improve mission effectiveness, characteristics of both the human and the technology must be considered. As such, the impact of human characteristics and traits on mission effectiveness, as measured by individual and team performance, are assessed using a computer simulation, C3Fire. Results at the individual level suggest that persons scoring high on extraversion and low on pessimism perform better than those scoring low on extraversion and high on pessimism. In contrast, at the team level, homogenous teams as measured by optimism-pessimism perform worse than diverse teams. Results of this thesis provide a methodology with which to examine NCWâ s claims in a laboratory setting. Preliminary evidence demonstrates the need to consider human characteristics and traits in the design and composition of network teams.

While Special Operations Forces are commonly identified with the pursuit of foreign policy, they may also be used within the domestic security infrastructure. Given the long-practiced use of the military in developing countries in internal security roles (inclusive of Jamaica), and given the rise to prominence of transnational threats over traditional threats in Jamaica, a need has arisen for an evolution in the military to adequately meet these new unconventional threats. Such a capability may be embodied in a SOF properly selected, trained, equipped and organized to mitigate these irregular threats such as terrorism, illicit arms and narcotics trafficking, and organized crime which currently face Jamaica. This study examines the value, utility, and possible roles of such a unit in the Jamaican security landscape, and makes recommendations for the establishment and employment of such a unit in Jamaica.

The three objectives to this thesis are: to determine through historical investigation the primary motivations and impetuses behind the creation and development of special operations forces (SOF) within the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China; to provide a detailed briefing of modern PLA SOF; to determine whether PLA SOF contingents will develop an American "Green Beret"-type Unconventional Warfare (UW) capability in the immediate future. The third objective will be ascertained through a brief investigation of the history, motivations and national strategy behind the United States Army Special Forces. It will also examine the doctrinal leanings of Local War Under High Tech Conditions, as well as the strategic and political objectives of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and how both factors pertain to and affect the missions of PLA SOF. Through the course of this thesis' research, it was discovered that doctrinal changes within the PLA, post-1979 PLA modernization and professionalization efforts, financial constraints on regional power projection goals, and the First Gulf War were the primary drivers behind the creation and development of PLA SOF. At present, an integral UW capability within PLA SOF is constrained by the Chinese military's current doctrinal emphasis--fighting a short war--and the PRC's strategic and political goals--translating regional economic interdependence into regional dominance.

"This thesis will focus on the area of 802.20 wireless networking and how this technology will vastly benefit the US military forces, especially in the Network Centric concept of operations, where information flow is crucial. It will investigate this technology using published literature and previously gathered experimental data. This thesis will then relate its findings to Network Centric Warfare and the matters that could be most affected by this new technology." p. i.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are becoming vital warfare platforms because they significantly reduce the risk of human life while accomplishing important missions. A UAV can be used for example, as stand-in sensor for the detection of mobile, low-probability-of-intercept battlefield surveillance and fire control emitters. With many UAVs acting together as a swarm, the location and frequency characteristics of each emitter can be accurately determined to continuously provide complete battlefield awareness. The swarm should be able to act autonomously while searching for targets and relaying the information to all swarm members. In this thesis, two methods of autonomous control of a UAV swarm were investigated. The first method investigated was the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. This technique uses a non-linear approach to minimize the error between the location of each particle and the target by accelerating particles through the search space until the target is found. When applied to a swarm of UAVs, the PSO algorithm did not produce the desired performance results. The second method used a linear algorithm to determine the correct heading and maneuver the swarm toward the target at a constant velocity. This thesis shows that the second approach is more practical to a UAV swarm. New results are shown to demonstrate the application of the algorithm to the swarm movement.

Airpower capability and military technology have created a vision of airpower that focuses on the lethality of weaponry instead of the use of that weaponry as a political tool. Unfortunately, such a lethality-focused force optimized to fight interstate conflicts, by definition, ensures that this force is sub-optimal for waging wars at the sub-state level. Small wars are conflicts where the political and diplomatic context, and not the military disposition of the combatants, is usually the determining factor. Following World War II there emerged an era of insurgencies and limited wars of territorial dispute. These small wars required new operational and tactical innovations involving the use of airpower, as the very nature of these wars differed from conventional conflict towards which most of aviation was geared. This thesis analyzes six historical cases involving the use of airpower across a wide spectrum of small wars through the lens of an analytical framework for countering insurgencies. While the typologies of no two conflicts are identical, and the application of airpower equally varied, this work provides fundamental assertions and implications regarding the proper use of airpower for waging war at this level. / US Air Force (USAF) author.